“Monica” who didn’t want to give her last name, was first to get to the register carrying only one item, a $129 black asymmetrical jacket in size 2. “This is so exciting, it’s the only thing I wanted. I might wear it right now. I can’t believe I got it.”

Anastasia Hendrix

Clawing their way through the merch.

Six minutes was all it took to clean out the racks at H&M this morning at the Powell Street store, when the edgy Japanese Comme des Garcons collection by Rei Kawakubo went on sale.

San Francisco sold out seven minutes faster than the L.A. Beverly Center, which also debuted the collection today. Only eight U.S. stores were selected to carry the capsule collection.

Maybe you haven’t heard, but the reclusive designer who has never done a secondary line, has caused a feeding frenzy here and abroad this week.

Elke Grant was the first in line. She and some friends staked out a space at 1 p.m. yesterday and slept on the street on yoga mats and blankets they bought from the Walgreen’s across the street.

Anastasia Hendrix

Employees strike a pose moments before the doors opened.

Even though she’s an H&M employee, she was totally jazzed when the doors opened at 9:45 (fifteen minutes earlier than usual because of the hundreds of people in line).

In she ran, with a well-planned strategy (more on that later), heading straight to the $249 coat dress, an intriguing combination of pinstripes, ruffles, ribbons and silk moire.

Bravo, who works for the Museum of Performance and Design, saw his shopping karma kick in at about 10 a.m., when he spied a rack of men’s suits roll by. “I prayed and I grabbed,” he said. “Miracle of miracles, I found my size.”

He will wear what he bought, unlike many others in line who were there only to stock up and re-sell their purchases on eBay. By 11 a.m., some items were already posted.

What was left? Plain black, white and khaki button-down men’s shirts that looked like anything you could get at Target. “I’m not sure about this polka-dot sweater,” said a customer who wouldn’t give her name because she called in sick to work that morning. “This looks like something H&M would carry any day of the week.” Whether or not the stuff was all that great didn’t seem to matter much.

Grant’s post-frenzy report: “We were the first in line. My friend went and grabbed the three coatdresses,” she said. (There were only five in the store).”She pulled all three, we ran to the bottom of the escalator, she handed them off to another friend, and he handed them off to me.”

She’s thrilled with the coatdress. “I think it’s so beautiful. It’s very different, so intricate, it looks like a piece of art.”

After the racks were emptied, yet another line formed. This one was for what was left on the mannequins and in the windows that were soon to be stripped.